


It’s Called Love, You Should Look It Up

by tippykazoo



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate universe/canon divergent, F/M, Melinda May - Freeform, Other Character Tags to be Added - Freeform, Tropes, prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22121473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tippykazoo/pseuds/tippykazoo
Summary: “I can’t believe I’m about to become Kate,” Sharon confessed, still adjusting mentally to the task despite all her assurances to herself that she was going to do great. She grabbed the ice cream from Nat and opened it, shoving the two spoons into the frozen surface. Natasha opened the box of popsicles and handed her one.“It’s just like any other job. Weren’t you Fiona like a month ago?” Natasha asked her nonchalantly. She opened the white plastic wrapping on her popsicle to reveal one of those red, white, and blue bomb pops. They looked strangely re-branded from their old 4th of July theme though. Sharon tried to get a better look at the box as she unwrapped her own.“Yeah, but Fiona wasn’t quite on the same par as Kate,” Sharon tried to justify her feelings, finally catching the label on the box. These were Captain America themed popsicles. Sharon felt a laugh burst up through her body, uncontainable. “Natasha, did you seriously bring me Captain America popsicles to my mission send-off where I will be stalking the poor guy?” she asked as soon as her laugh was stifled by a triumphant looking Natasha’s grin.
Relationships: Sharon Carter & Natasha Romanov, Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers
Comments: 48
Kudos: 40





	1. The One with the Captain America Popsicles

**Author's Note:**

> If you're not a Sharon Carter fan or hate seeing Sharon with Steve, you should definitely stop reading now. If you hate her or this pairing, you've been warned. If you waste your time reading something you hate, I kind of feel like that might be more of a you problem and not a me problem. Don't spread hate, read things you actually like! Also, in the spirit of having read/written fanfiction since the old days, I do not own any of these characters. I am simply a lowly fanfic writer who is obsessed with Sharon Carter. To anyone who likes Sharon, Sharon/Steve, or just likes reading weird things I write, thank you, thank you, thank you. You are wonderful and I appreciate you. Happy reading all. It's going to be bumpy and silly and chaotic and riddled with tropes. Also, if you just stumbled upon this fic, feel free to hit me up on tumblr on my main blog at the username "tippykazoo" or on my Sharon-centric blog at "sharon-effing-carter" and leave random prompts/concepts/tropes/etc in my ask box or on posts relating to this fic. You're all the best and I'm sending you my own kudos energy just for being part of this.

“Are you sure?” The words held so much hesitancy. She didn’t usually let herself show much, if any vulnerability, especially when it came to work. But, if she was allowed to doubt herself in front of anyone, it was Nick Fury. Not only was he Sharon Carter’s boss, but he’d known her and her family for as long as Sharon could remember. Today, he’d assigned her the kind of job that made careers, the kind of task that other agents would talk about over the years and reminisce and feel so accomplished over. But he was assigning it to the one agent who would, first and foremost, actually feel a little bit of guilty over this job. He was assigning her to watch over Captain America in his new apartment. He had pointed out that she was uniquely qualified to watch over him and that she was also a very capable agent who would be helpful should anything turn sideways. Sharon knew it was a sign of trust on Fury’s part, that she should feel honored in a way that he considered her first. Fury’s expression when she asked if he was sure was no-nonsense and his head cocked to the side with a deadpan expression hitting his features.

“You’re right, I should give it to Joe, the new guy downstairs who just completed basic training,” he spat the sarcasm out casually. “Of course, I’m sure. I didn’t become the director of SHIELD by making half-baked decisions. Pick up your file and go do your job Thirteen.” His tone changed to confidence that Sharon envied in tackling this new task. She was usually a very confident person, but she just couldn’t shake that there was something slightly wrong about what she was doing. She spent most of her career lying to people but lying to Steve Rogers after everything he had just been through seemed like a bit much. But above all else, Sharon was a SHIELD agent, and this was her job.

“Joe would look great as Nurse Kate,” Sharon shot back, lightening up and applying her own sarcasm. Her sense of duty was settling in and she knew she was going to kick ass at this job, whether she had to stifle down guilt or not. Fury smirked at her remark and this was what their dynamic had been since she was a snarky, lanky thirteen year old girl who had talked to him at some family get-together he’d been invited to by Peggy and confessed that someday, she would be an agent of SHIELD. He had told her to go ahead and try but she might want to come up with a good codename now since carrying her great aunt’s legacy might make things harder. He’d been joking, but Sharon had taken it to heart. One casual comment at a crucial time in Sharon’s life had helped lead her along the path she would choose for her future.

“Get out of my office and go pack your bags,” Fury told her, sending her on her way. She was used to this kind of dismissal. “Oh, and Sharon…” he stopped her just as she got up to leave his office, fresh file in hand. “…you got this.” His tone was actually very reassuring. Maybe he knew she’d feel guilty. Maybe he sensed that she needed some guidance and someone who would be on her side. Fury was a good boss, no matter what all those people who were terrified of him said. Sharon smiled, one of those genuine smiles that told him she appreciated his words without her having to say a thing. She left with her file, knowing she had a lot of work ahead before becoming Nurse Kate and playing neighbors with Captain America.

\--

It had taken a while to sort everything out. Sharon had spent a few weeks packing up her old place, sending belongings into storage at her family’s home in Richmond, Virginia, and choosing what few items she would be bringing with her to the new place. She was essentially taking on a new identity and didn’t want to bring anything that would tie her to her actual life. She’d sent all her family photos and keepsakes to storage. She kept some of her comfortable clothes and a few things she’d be keeping at home for work that she’d put away discreetly. She invested in scrubs and SHIELD gave her a few faked documents and photos to sell her life as Kate should Steve Rogers happen to catch a glimpse inside her apartment at any point. She had fake photos of her standing with fake parents holding up a fake degree from a school she definitely hadn’t gone to. She had one of those corny “world’s best nurse” mugs that she could lie and say she’d gotten from a fake relative or patient. She was becoming Kate and it was strangely easy for her after so many years of undercover work.

She had one evening in the new place before she’d have to fully immerse herself as Kate. Captain America was out of town doing something very Avenger-y and was under the impression that his neighbor had been living there longer than he’d lived in the building and he just hadn’t met them yet. So, Sharon was spending her last night as herself celebrating a mission send-off with one of her oldest friends, Natasha Romanoff.

Some feared the Black Widow, thought she was a horrifying Russian assassin who secretly wanted to kill them. Sharon teased her, drank with her, went out for random girls nights with her, and worked with her. They had an extremely amicable relationship and understood each other on a level only copious amounts of sarcasm and too many shoddy missions could offer. They’d been to hell and back with one another more than once and it showed. If Sharon was spending one last night as herself, it was going to be with her best friend. And tequila. That was also a must.

Natasha showed up at Sharon’s apartment with a plastic grocery bag full of mystery items and a vicious smile that said she was ready to drink her friend under the table. Sharon let her in eagerly and met that smile with a competitive grin of her own. “Presents? For me?” Sharon asked, feigning wide-eyed innocence and making a show of trying to peek into the bag. The sparse, staged apartment was set up for company, tequila and shot glasses on the counter, a radio humming quiet music, a girly rom com playing on mute on the tv. Sharon had ordered Chinese food; it just wasn’t there yet.

“Oh, this is awkward, these are actually presents for me. I just brought them to make you jealous,” Natasha countered back, teasing. She strode through the apartment with a comfort level Sharon hadn’t even quite reached yet. Natasha had a way of making it look like she lived anywhere she walked into. Maybe it came from too much safe house hopping. Maybe Natasha was just more evolved than Sharon. Either way, Sharon was a little envious, but in a healthy way.

“I’d forgotten what a terrible friend you are,” Sharon shot back sarcastically as Nat set the bag on the little kitchen table. Out tumbled a few limes as the bag settled on the flat surface. Nat caught them as they started to roll and tossed them one at a time to Sharon who caught them with ease and set them up by the tequila bottle, nesting them between shot glasses so they wouldn’t roll away again. Natasha also pulled out a tiny potted plant that had probably come from a grocery store or bodega and a box of what looked like popsicles. Nat grabbed the popsicles and shoved them in the freezer.

“If I was such a horrible friend, would I have brought you a housewarming plant?” Natasha asked, pointing to the plant like it was a million-dollar item. Sharon laughed, looking at the sad little plant. She’d probably end up accidentally killing it. She had a habit of leaving for long amounts of time and not watering things. Every time one of the women in their little friendship circle moved somewhere new, the others would end up finding a way for one of them to give them a plant. Since Nat was the only one coming out tonight before Sharon made her magical transition into Nurse Kate, she had obviously been held responsible for the plant-giving.

“You know I’m gonna kill that poor thing, right?” Sharon confessed to what they both already knew with a raise of her brows and laughing acknowledgement. The buzzer rang and Sharon let the Chinese food delivery person up. It took a second for them to make it up to her floor and Sharon waited by the door with her wallet while Nat made herself even more comfortable by going over and opening the large window that let out to the fire escape for the apartment. Sharon grabbed the food and tipped her delivery person, bringing the food in and setting it on the table along with a handful of those disposable chopsticks they always sent. “You know what sounds good?” Sharon asked, eyeing all the food on the table. Natasha gave her a knowing smile.

“Dessert first?” Nat asked, having done this more than once with Sharon. Sharon grinned, feeling seen and known only the way a true friend could. Natasha rolled her eyes at the predictability and grabbed her box of popsicles and a carton of whatever ice cream Sharon had left in there. Sharon acquired spoons and instead of eating at the table like normal people, the two women headed for the fire escape. It was a warm night and they’d done this before, just at different apartment buildings, in different cities, at various different ages or points in their careers. All of these moments held the same level of comfort, fun, and familiarity.

“I can’t believe I’m about to become Kate,” Sharon confessed, still adjusting mentally to the task despite all her assurances to herself that she was going to do great. She grabbed the ice cream from Nat and opened it, shoving the two spoons into the frozen surface. Natasha opened the box of popsicles and handed her one.

“It’s just like any other job. Weren’t you Fiona like a month ago?” Natasha asked her nonchalantly. She opened the white plastic wrapping on her popsicle to reveal one of those red, white, and blue bomb pops. They looked strangely re-branded from their old 4th of July theme though. Sharon tried to get a better look at the box as she unwrapped her own.

“Yeah, but Fiona wasn’t quite on the same par as Kate,” Sharon tried to justify her feelings, finally catching the label on the box. These were Captain America themed popsicles. Sharon felt a laugh burst up through her body, uncontainable. “Natasha, did you seriously bring me Captain America popsicles to my mission send-off where I will be stalking the poor guy?” she asked as soon as her laugh was stifled by a triumphant looking Natasha’s grin.

“They have little Cap action figures inside! He’s holding a tiny shield,” Natasha told her, knowing she had chosen well. Sharon was laughing again.

“Isn’t that a choking hazard?” Sharon asked, feeling like this was about twelve different types of wrong. “Also, isn’t it a bit soon? The guy came out of ice within this year! Was it really necessary for them to sell merch like this?” Sharon was a little incredulous at the thought that someone was out there majorly capitalizing on Captain America popsicles and this was somehow very politically incorrect.

“I’m going to save one for Steve. I’ll text you a pic of his face when he sees what it is,” Natasha promised. Sharon felt a little bad that not only would she be spying on the guy, but she and her best friend were already planning inside jokes and ways to make him just a little miserable.

“You are a horrible person. But I love you and definitely want that pic,” Sharon confessed, shaking her head in disbelief that this was what her life was right now.

The two women spent the rest of the night and early morning hours eating their Chinese food, doing shots, telling old stories, and discussing how much they’d both miss Sharon being Sharon while she was Kate. At one point, they were drunk enough that they named the house plant Nat had brought “Marla” and had given it a shot of tequila. Sharon had fallen asleep on her couch cradling two of the leftover limes and Natasha had taken her bed but left early in the morning before Sharon had woken up. Overall, it had been a very fun night and an excellent farewell to Sharon and hello to Kate.


	2. The One with Phil Coulson in the Broom Closet

**Mission report notes: Month 1 as Nurse Kate**  
_So far, Rogers has had exactly three run-ins with his neighbor, Kate. Each time, Kate was dressed in scrubs and talked about her job at the hospital as a nurse. Rogers looks like he’s starting to trust Kate. Plans to play off of his mother’s job as a nurse are playing out well. Surveillance shows Rogers is in a fragile emotional state. He mostly keeps to himself, leaves for work, doesn’t bring friends or romantic partners home, eats alone, and listens to old music at night. Rogers cries himself to sleep 3 out of 7 nights each week and wakes himself up from nightmares 5 out of 7 nights each week. Meetings with a therapist would be advised at this point in time._

Sharon typed up her report encompassing an overview of her first month as Captain America’s neighbor, Nurse Kate. She mentioned the few staged run-ins she had arranged and the things she had surveilled. Once she had her first run-in with Rogers, things started to really feel like a job and her guilt slowly eased away, only resurfacing when she accidentally heard something very intimate through her surveillance. She reminded herself, often, that she was helping him, looking out for him, by doing this. She also found that it wasn’t as hard being Kate as she had anticipated. She was still able to do a decent amount of work for SHIELD as long as she was careful and made sure to never cross paths with Rogers. She didn’t have to give up everything in her life, she just couldn’t bring it all home with her.

Sharon clicked print and listened for the papers to start feeding out from her printer. She was in the office today. Rogers would think his neighbor was working at the hospital and he was supposedly at home, at least that’s where Sharon had last seen his little location dot pulsing from a tracker Fury had put in a watch he had given him. Sharon had been working on her report. She’d typed it up and would be giving Fury a paper copy only, not wanting everything backed up on their servers right now. Fury was a very suspicious man. Sharon figured he had a right to be though and did what he wanted.

Eager to get her report to the boss, Sharon placed her papers in a sealable manilla envelope and headed out of her office. She brought her purse, figuring she’d drop it off on her way out and headed toward the office where she’d leave the report in a drop box for Fury. She pulled her phone out, checking it as she walked. She had a few emails and texts and a notification on her tracking app. She opened it and noticed an idle sign on Rogers’ movement. That was strange, did he take a nap in the middle of the day? Maybe he was even more depressed than she had first assessed. Sharon debated backtracking to add this into her report when she saw a familiar face coming in her direction, a face she was genuinely surprised to see.

“Thirteen, what are you up to?” came Phil Coulson’s inquiring tone. Sharon’s surprise turned over to a feeling of gratitude. Phil Coulson had been another of Sharon’s many old friends, someone she had history with. Sharon had been mentored by a close friend of his, Melinda May, during her academy days and some of her earliest missions had been alongside or under the two agents. Phil had traded tricks and trivia with her as they used to talk about old Howling Commando stories and the building blocks that had created SHIELD. During the Chitauri invasion, Sharon had heard he’d been lost though, killed on the job. She had messaged her old SO, wanting to meet up and talk and have a little memorial just with his old friends, but so much had been going on and then, May had just told her everything would be okay and to move on. At the time, she figured it had been too painful, now she wondered if May had just known he was alive. Either way, she was glad to see him still with them, in the land of the living, walking around the Triskelion like they were just back to business.

“Oh, you know, paperwork, espionage, more paperwork, the usual,” Sharon offered with a smile. “You look, very alive,” Sharon couldn’t help but throw in. She was smiling, glad to see him, but still a little confused. 

“The Loki thing? Yeah, it put me out of commission for a while there. Very close call. The upper management must have felt really bad about the whole thing though because they sent me on an all-expenses-paid trip to Tahiti,” Coulson told her, seeming happy to see her too but understanding her confusion. Not a lot of people knew he was back on the job. He was currently in the process of working with a great new team Fury had set him up with. They had their own private jet and everything, The Bus, they called it. One of Sharon’s brows quirked up slightly at the Tahiti reference, like she’d heard about it somewhere but couldn’t remember where but the look went away, she couldn’t recall what she’d been thinking of.

“Good, I’m sure you earned the time off if you almost died,” Sharon told him, glad everything had worked out. Only in SHIELD could people be walking around thinking one of their own was dead only to run into him nonchalantly as they delivered paperwork in the office.

“Yeah, I guess I chose the right day to come stop in too. I heard Captain America is around today. I’ve been wanting to catch him, let him know I’m alive,” Coulson told her, ever the Cap fanboy. Sharon’s face fell from calm and happy to see Coulson to slightly panicked at his words.

“Wait, what?” she asked, not sure she’d heard him right.

“Cap, he’s downstairs, doing something for Fury today. I heard he felt pretty bad when he thought I was dead and just wanted to reassure him, I’m okay,” Coulson kept talking, not realizing any of the implications this meant for Sharon or of how poorly she’d obviously been surveilling him.

“Oh, shit,” Sharon cursed, pulling a tablet out of her purse. She started feverishly typing, entering in a code here or there, shooting a glance up at a curious Coulson between loading screens.

“I take it you’re not much of a Cap fan these days?” Coulson asked, not knowing where this was going. But watching with a semi-impressed look on his face as Sharon tapped into SHIELD’s security feeds. Only a few people had access to those on a tablet like that, but he’d heard about Thirteen’s hacking skills, even seen them in action once or twice.

“He’s a nice enough guy, but I was supposed to be keeping track of him and he’s not really supposed to see my face. At least, not here. He thinks I’m named Kate,” Sharon told him as she started searching through feeds, trying to find Rogers in the crowds. Coulson’s face broke into a laughing expression, though he didn’t actually laugh.

“I see you’re not on your A-game. Did my death really have you that broken up?” Coulson joked, trying to make what might be a stressful situation a little lighter. Sharon side-eyed him with mock annoyance.

“It’s a long story. As usual, with Fury at the heart of it. I just need to make sure my cover doesn’t get blown,” she told him as she finally spotted that familiar head of blonde hair. She checked which feed it was and felt a little thrill of adrenaline at the fact that he was one hallway away from them, getting ready to round the corner where she was standing right now. “Oh shit, oh no, this is bad,” Sharon muttered, too fast and trying to think on her toes. She grabbed Coulson by the sleeve and dragged him along with her toward where she knew there was a broom closet on this floor. He let her, not sure why he was being dragged along for her ride on the crazy train that was espionage. She tugged him inside the closet with her, shutting the door carefully but quickly so it wouldn’t make a sound or look suspicious. They stood for a second, in the dark in the closet, Sharon watching Steve move through security cameras slowly on their hallway.

“Look, Thirteen, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but I don’t feel like we’re at a point in our relationship where this is normal,” Coulson joked, his tone hushed, knowing if he talked too loud, she’d probably smack him or something. He’d watched Sharon and May spar and it had been a thing to see, but something he was not keen to be on the receiving end of.

“When a hot blonde chick drags you into a closet, you don’t ask questions,” Sharon teased, although it didn’t sound completely committed as it was tinged with urgency to stay hidden.

“Somehow, I feel like that’s not where this is coming from,” Coulson countered. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d love a nice closet date, but not with you. No offense,” he added, apologetically. Sharon looked up from the tablet to look fake offended but then rolled her eyes.

“How is your cellist girlfriend anyway?” Sharon asked with a knowing glint, giving her attention back to the feed. For someone who supposedly moved very fast from a super soldier serum, he sure was taking his goddamn time. Sharon also noticed someone catching up to him in the hall, Nat. Sharon glared at the screen and grabbed her cell phone to type in a quick message while talking to Coulson.

_**Sent to Nat from Sharon:**  
Couldn’t you have warned me you two were going to be in today? I’m over here having a heart attack!_

“It didn’t really work out,” Coulson replied back, a little sadness lilting in his tone. A lot had happened since he came back from vacation.

“Well, if you ever need a hot date to make her jealous for any reason, you’ve got me, Nat, Maria. Scrap that, Maria is a bit too crass, even while using a secret identity she can’t quite hide that tone she always uses that reminds everyone she’s constantly ready to throw down and fight.” Sharon was trying to be nice, but Coulson clearly looked like he would never be taking her up on this offer.

“Uh, thanks, I think,” he tried to sound like he’d considered it but mostly just sounded at a loss.

_**Sent to Sharon from Nat:**  
Wow, you’re a really bad spy. Isn’t it your job to keep track of Boy Scout over here? Not mine._

“Uhm, there are other fish in the sea?” Sharon tried to sound supportive but knew she absolutely shouldn’t be giving dating advice to a guy she thought had been dead an hour ago. “Hot fish? No, wait, nice, quiet, reserved fish? Aren’t those the types you like? Or maybe more, fiery, powerful, mischievous fish? Did May ever get back together with her therapist ex? Is she on the market?” Sharon winked at that idea.

_**Sent to Nat from Sharon:**  
Wow, rude! I’m a good spy! He must have taken off his tracking watch! I can’t track something that is not moving! Let me know when he’s leaving so I can get out of this damn closet!_

“I think May might have other priorities. Although, we are working together again, which has been nice,” Coulson let her know, moving the conversation away from his romantic life, not liking when the women in his life tried to somehow set him up with the other women in his life.

_**Sent to Sharon from Nat:**  
Hahahaha! You’re in a closet! Oh, that is too much!_

Sharon watched as a texting Nat called out to a slowly moving Rogers in the hall and he stopped dead. Natasha was fucking with Sharon and Sharon was so done! She watched as Natasha waved to Steve to come listen to something she had to say, all the while, Sharon went back to texting her right back. Coulson’s expression moved back to concern as he glanced at the stopped Captain America in the hallway. He looked resigned and sat down on a flipped over mop bucket, worried they might be there a while.

_**Sent to Nat from Sharon:**  
Please, I’m stuck in here with Coulson. Poor guy survived an alien war just for this! Be a good friend! Get Rogers out of here!_

“I’m really sorry about this,” Sharon winced apologetically toward Coulson. “I’m sure you would way rather be anywhere else but in here right now.”

“I mean, I actually did want to talk to Cap, but it’s okay. I understand not wanting to blow a cover,” Coulson admitted, and Sharon was reminded of why they had been friends. Coulson was an understanding person and a decent guy. He deserved to not be sitting on a bucket in a closet while she hid from Captain America.

_**Sent to Sharon from Nat:**  
Coulson’s alive? Good for him. Fine. I’ll stop messing with you. But only because Coulson has already been through enough. Being trapped in a closet with you WOULD be torture. :P _

“It looks like Nat is going to stop being a pain in the ass and actually be helpful. She’s getting him to leave,” Sharon updated Coulson, still with an air of apology. Coulson looked relieved.

“Hey, I could be stuck in here with worse people. Have you met that Rumlow guy?” Coulson asked. Sharon could tell he was trying to make her feel better and she appreciated it.

“Yes. That guy is the worst!” Sharon was on board with his train of thought. Talk about toxic masculinity.

_**Sent to Nat from Sharon:**  
Thank you! I take every horrible thing I’ve ever said about you back! You’re the best friend in the world! Also, could you walk fast? I kind of have to pee._

Sharon watched as Natasha rushed Rogers in another direction, down a different hall and she let out a breath of air she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in the last few seconds. “It looks like the coast is almost clear,” she reassured her closet pal. Coulson gave her a sympathetic smile.

“Well, it was good seeing you again Thirteen. Maybe, next time we catch up, we could do it out in the open,” he teased, standing up from his bucket seat. “No need to hide our friendship. It’s okay. I’m fine with being seen with you,” he pressed on, getting it all out of his system before they’d be free to roam the halls without Captain America catching Sharon at SHIELD.

“You’re an ass. And I missed you. And I’m really glad you’re not dead,” Sharon added that last part with such feeling, she hoped he understood that she did care and was glad he was okay. She checked the location of Rogers and Natasha and opened up the closet door, letting the light in. A passing intern looked in at her and Coulson, and Sharon dramatically raised one of her brows, as if asking them to say something. The intern picked up their pace and walked faster to get away. Laughing, Sharon indicated they were safe to leave now and emerged from the closet. “Let’s do this again soon,” Sharon joked as they both stood outside, in the hall for a moment to reorient.

“I’d rather not, but thank you anyway,” Coulson chuckled, and Sharon actually leaned in to give him a quick hug before leaving. He hugged her back, a casual thing between friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and they said goodbye.

_**Sent to Sharon from Fury:**  
Did you just spend twenty minutes in a broom closet with Agent Coulson?_

_**Sent to Fury from Sharon:**  
Don’t ask._


	3. The One with the Sadness Pie

He wasn’t sleeping. That was the first thing that was really getting to her. He was having too many nightmares and he was going long periods of time without sleep, just bustling around his apartment idly for hours until he had to go to work or eat or listen to his sad songs from another time. And in the few times that he would sleep, he woke up frantically, crying out like he was still fighting in a war that was over. Sharon could practically feel his sadness seeping through the walls between their apartments and she felt a surge of sympathy. She marked down in her files for Fury that things were getting worse, but Sharon didn’t want to just sit there, doing nothing, when she could try to help, even if just a little, even if just to steal one smile from him so he didn’t look so much like a sad basset hound. She wanted him to be a peppy golden retriever. She could try to help make that happen, right?

And so, she began to concoct a plan. Her plan involved one of the only things that felt neighborly and appropriate, an exchange of baked goods. Neighbors did that, right? But she would also need a good excuse. It couldn’t just be, “oh here, have these cookies, I was spying on you and know you’re in dire need of chocolate.” No, she had to go about this the right way and be sneaky about it. Her entire persona was already built up on a casually tilting tower of lies, why not throw one more on the thing? Her plan was growing, and it involved pie.

Sharon made decent pies. Between her mother and her Great Aunt Peggy, she had plenty of people in her life offering her baking advice when she was growing up. She wasn’t much for cooking but had taken to baking more easily and knew how to make the staples. She figured apple was a safe enough bet and she’d never heard he was allergic to them or anything so, Sharon set out making a couple pies. She made more than one under the guise that she was making them for an event and had extra and thought it would be nice to share with her neighbor. God, she really was the perfect girl next door. Too bad it was all fake.

Once her pies were out of the oven and cooling down, she grabbed the first one she’d finished and headed over to do her neighborly duty and hopefully cheer up the sad super soldier. Mission Get Cap Out of His Funk was a go. She knocked on his door, knowing he was inside listening to sad music again. She heard him turn it off before coming to answer the knock and she went into Kate mode, plastering the friendly smile on her face and making sure to hold the pie in just the right position so he’d notice how good it smelled and looked. He opened the door and looked surprised to see her there and curious what the pie was for.

“Oh, uh, hi Kate,” he started, sounding a little awkward. Sharon remembered stories she was told about him when she was still a child, stories about a stammering guy who was tiny and liked to pick fights. His tone now fit a version of him that not everyone knew. “What brings you by?” he asked, finding his bearings and moving away from his own awkwardness.

“It’s kind of a long story, but I was making pies for an event at the community center and I had made extra. I figured, I should come see if my neighbor wants some,” she told him, her tone holding just the right amount of shyness and kindness to try to get him to take the bait. He looked like he was somewhere between being touched by the idea of being thought of and awkward all over again at the idea of talking to her.

“It looks great,” he offered, looking at the pie and then up to her eyes and then back to the pie again. There was a short pause, like he’d forgotten basic etiquette, and then he realized he’d been quiet for too long and caught himself again. “Oh, uhm, please, come in. Maybe we can share? I’ll get some coffee going,” Steve seemed to remember that these were things you did when people came to your home. He gestured for her to step inside and Sharon followed, secretly praising herself at getting in so easily. Good thing she wasn’t some kind of villain out to get him. But she cut him a break, he was vulnerable right now.

“That sounds nice, I’d love to join you,” Sharon told him as she set the pie down on his counter. She watched him mess with a coffee pot and pull out two plates. “Let me know if you need any help,” she offered, still pushing that sweeter than sugar shit she figured Kate just oozed.

“I’ve got it but thank you. And thank you for bringing this by. That was very kind,” he said, oblivious to her intentions or that things were going exactly as she had planned. “What did you say you were making these for again?” he asked suddenly, and Sharon could feel a small measure of testing there, like maybe he wasn’t quite as trusting as she’d pegged him for. Fortunately, this was her game and she was good at playing it. Her smile never faltered, and she looked at him like the sun was shining out her ass on the regular.

“The community center. It’s this whole youth group thing they do there. I had a few patients tell me it was happening, and I wanted to help if I could,” Sharon fed him the lie the same way she was feeding him freshly baked apple pie, easily and with a whole array of mixed intentions. She made it sound like she was trying to be humble and him eating the extra pie was helping her out in some way while also painting herself as such a good person, an attentive nurse, and a kind neighbor. She was nailing this.

He seemed satisfied that she was telling the truth although his reactions were not noticeable to the average eye, only years of training in reading people told Sharon what was going on in his head. She could also see that he was moving onto a new curiosity, like his mind was a train switching tracks to the next thing he was suspicious of.

“That sounds like a good cause,” he commended. He took a moment to cut the pie and take out a slice for each of them and the coffee maker beeped, letting them know it was ready. “That’s right, you mentioned you’re a nurse. Did I ever tell you what line of work I’m in?” he was steering the conversation, gauging her to see if she knew he was Captain America or remembered anything he had said. He hadn’t mentioned anything in their past run-ins that she’d staged in the halls so, she knew she had to play this right.

“Not that I remember, but I kind of figured you were a fitness instructor or something. I mean, you look like you might be, is all,” she was coating her words with flattery and naivete, sure it would get her where she wanted to be. Her words confirmed for him that she didn’t know who he was or anything about him that he hadn’t shared with her on purpose. That was exactly what she wanted him to think.

“Huh, that’s funny. I actually work for the government. Over at that huge Triskelion building,” he shared, not naming agencies or jobs, but indicating that if she knew what SHIELD was, she’d react a certain way. She feigned curiosity but acted like she’d never heard of it.

“I think I know where you’re talking about. I didn’t know the building had a name,” she mused, playing that surprised girl next door who was learning something new every day. He seemed comfortable with her response and gave her a slice of pie and a cup of coffee. He fumbled around a little more, getting some milk from the fridge and a little cup of sugar to set out. He started to loosen up and Sharon watched his suspicions ease. She was garnering that trust of his more thoroughly.

“It’s part of the reason I keep such odd hours. Sorry, if I’m ever loud coming in at night,” he was acting like a respectful neighbor again and something inside Sharon felt like she’d won. She was cemented as Kate in his head and she was doing her job.

“I’ve never noticed. I think you’re fine. Then again, I don’t always keep the most reasonable hours myself,” she told him, pouring a little of the sugar into her coffee and taking a sip. She took a little bite out of her slice of pie. It was a little too sweet. Hopefully no one noticed. She wanted to stretch these new boundaries they were creating and hopefully actually cheer him up a bit more so, she decided it was time to get him to open up a little. For her, she figured mirroring would work best, show him she could share so he might follow her lead. “Honestly, it gets kind of lonely sometimes, working weird hours, coming in and out at irregular times. I’ve eaten more than one dinner at 4 in the morning by myself,” she confessed, making it sound somewhere between casual and like she was opening up to him. She found a little truth in her words though. She just wasn’t eating alone at 4 AM because she was a nurse, it was because she was a damn spy. Nonetheless, he looked like he could relate and respected that they had this in common.

“I know how that feels. Well, if you ever get in late and notice I’m up, feel free to stop by. Maybe we could do a late-night dinner,” he actually managed to sound hopeful when he suggested it. Sharon felt this was another win.

“It’s a date,” the words were meant to sound joking, but Sharon surprised herself by the warmth in them. She wasn’t really here to date him, just cheer him up. But the words had slipped out so easily, she hadn’t caught them in time. They seemed to go over well though. Was that a slight blush she was detecting on his cheeks? And a smile was faltering on his lips that hadn’t been there a few moments ago when he was trying to see if she knew who he was. She was going to be considering this mission a success. Before she could mentally celebrate though, more company had arrived, and another knock was sounding at the door. Steve looked apologetic and his smile eased into a more neutral expression as he answered the door. On the other side was a familiar head of red hair and a cocky little half-smile. Natasha should have been surprised to see Sharon inside Steve’s apartment but didn’t show a damn thing. She was a rock.

“I forgot, I have a work thing,” Steve told Sharon, gesturing to Nat. Sharon eyed Natasha with a look of curiosity as she got up, tidying up her coffee and pie mess. She acted like she’d never seen her before.

“It’s alright, I should really get going as well,” Sharon offered, standing up to get ready to leave. This whole little cheering up session had gone fairly well. The only thing she hadn’t accounted for was Nat’s presence. And just as Sharon was about to head out, she could sense her best friend wasn’t going to let them off the hook that easily.

“Oh, Steve, who’s this? I didn’t realize you had a girlfriend,” Natasha was doing this to mess with both of them, knowing it would make each of them squirm for different reasons. But Sharon was also on a mission here and couldn’t react the way she normally would, which would have been by smacking her best friend. Steve looked uncomfortable and had a fresh tinge of blush to his cheeks. They weren’t even dating. This was stupid. It was pie and it was neighborly, and Natasha was way too amused by the idea of making others uncomfortable.

“Oh, uhm, we’re not…” Steve couldn’t even finish his sentence. Sharon felt a surge of pity. And right after she’d cheered him up! She’d smack Nat later for this. Until then, she swooped in, trying to ease the awkwardness.

“I’m just his neighbor, actually, Kate. I was just stopping in. Nice to meet you,” she offered, going as far as to extend a hand for Nat to shake, which Nat stared at for a moment, clearly not about to shake it. Sharon pulled her hand back, wanting to yell at her friend even more but knowing this would actually be a pretty realistic response from Nat meeting someone new. She wasn’t exactly warm, fuzzy, and eager to trust people. Sharon wore a look of confusion on behalf of her alter-ego Kate and waved a little goodbye to Steve before leaving them to head back to her own apartment.

Once she was safely tucked away inside her own home, she pulled out her phone, ready to verbally assault her best friend.

_**To Nat from Sharon:**  
You suck._

She only typed out two words and left it for what it was, secretly laughing at the thrill of everything that had happened. It was, in a way, fun, sneaking around being Kate. Sharon hadn’t gotten into the spy game because she didn’t like a challenge.

A few hours later, Sharon unloaded the remainder of her pies at a VA on the way to work. She handed them over to some guy who ran support groups there named Sam and he seemed like they’d appreciate them. She’d done something nice after all.


	4. The One with the Red Dress

The night was becoming something of a blur as Sharon made her getaway. It had started out tense and had progressively gotten worse and worse as she went about her mission. Realistically, her task was supposed to be fairly singularly minded. She had one main goal, kill Eduardo. Who was Eduardo and why was he so special? He was the basic, run of the mill gangster who was local to the area and had gotten some intel on SHIELD he definitely wasn’t supposed to have and had been on the market to sell said info to the highest bidder. Fury had gotten wind fairly quickly and had wanted to keep this under wraps as much as possible. SHIELD had enough to deal with without getting tied up in local gang politics and law enforcement. But whatever intel Eduardo had gotten his hands on had the potential to jeopardize a lot of active agents’ safety.

The matter also had to be handled delicately. Fury needed to send in an agent who was local to the area, not currently deployed somewhere else, and who wouldn’t need any kind of back-up or extraction plan. Natasha was on something else with Rogers, meaning they were busy, and Fury trusted Sharon to get the results he wanted and do so without saying a word to any of the wrong people. Sharon had felt flattered at his unwavering belief in her and had practically jumped at the idea of taking a night off from being Kate and going out to kill a reckless gang member. She figured it would be pretty simple, she’d dress up and head out to the nightclub Eduardo and his crew frequented, get him alone, and finish the job. Nothing in Sharon’s life was ever easy though.

It had started with the nightclub. Suspicions had fallen on her pretty quickly. Apparently, not many women came calling for Eduardo and that wasn’t the easiest sell. When Sharon was finally able to catch a glimpse of the man in person, she understood why. She had to quickly change tracks and imply her interest extended toward him in a business capacity and found herself acting like a shadier gangster than the one she planned to kill.

Their conversation had quickly been taken into a back room, away from all of the inebriated, dancing civilians, which Sharon was grateful for since she hated seeing avoidable casualties. At least that had gone as planned. Before she knew it, the back room turned into them detouring into the back alley. Unfortunately, Eduardo not being even remotely willing to play her little spy game hadn’t really been in the cards. He knew she wasn’t there to make a deal and had been tipped off that someone might come, someone who wasn’t there to make an exchange. Sharon found herself in a fight with Eduardo and two of his burliest bouncers/lackies. Luckily, none of them seemed to come with an abundance of professional training. Sharon dove into action, taking one of them out before the other two even registered the fight had started. Sharon knew, being the smallest one there with the most at stake meant she had to fight fast, creative, and a little dirty. Survival wasn’t pretty.

She hadn’t walked in completely unprepared. Sharon always had at least one small gun in a thigh-holster to call on. She had hers out as soon as she’d kicked the first goons’ head hard enough to knock him to the ground and put him out for a while. She wasn’t the only one who had arrived ready for something like this though. Surprisingly, her opponents favored knives which meant they wanted close combat, which meant Sharon just needed to get far enough back to shoot them where she wanted, where it counted, and she stood a chance at making it out of this whole debacle unscathed. Plans were made for breaking.

The other unnamed bouncer was quicker than Sharon would have thought and was immediately in her space, giving her a good nick down the length of her arm with his knife of choice. Eduardo seemed like he wasn’t taking this very seriously and was ready to fight, but also found the entire thing somehow funny. Maybe he didn’t think that she could handle them because she was a woman or because she was half their size or because she was outnumbered. She wanted to remind him she’d already knocked one of his buddies unconscious but didn’t feel like wasting the breath. Instead, she figured she needed to educate Eduardo as visually as possible by taking out the bouncer he still had standing. She pulled a series of well-timed kicks, punches, and dodging maneuvers to combat the man and Eduardo looked like he was enjoying the entire encounter less. He was squaring up to come join his friend just as Sharon got herself away from them well enough to brace herself. She was ready to shoot, take them out one at a time, when another guy came barreling up behind her, knocking the weapon from her hands. She tried to swing away but had been taken by surprise. What was it with these gang guys and their ability to randomly multiply?

It got messier. Sharon was fighting three men again and they were landing more punches now, cutting when they got a chance but not stabbing her yet. Were they playing with her? It all felt very predatory, like a cat toying with a mouse just before it ate it. Sharon knew it was one of those do-or-die type moments because they were almost done playing with their food and she knew what was coming next and wanted out before it happened. She pulled her SHIELD training out in full force, pretending she was just sparring with May or Nat or Maria. She had the newcomer down faster than she could process her actions, letting it all come naturally and swiftly. She dodged backward, reaching for any weapon she could and grabbing a garbage can lid. If a shield was good enough for Captain fucking America, this should work for her. She took the guy she’d been fighting by surprise by throwing the garbage can lid as hard as she could directly at his head. He wasn’t quick enough to block it in his shock that she had just used an over-sized, metal frisbee as a weapon. Thank god the restaurant next door had left their metal bins out and didn’t rely solely on those huge industrial dumpsters everyone had.

All she had left was Eduardo unless he had three more goons waiting in the wings somewhere. She might need another trashcan lid. Quick on her feet, she had her gun in hand again and both she and Eduardo had halted in their movement, neither one jumping in to attack the other. “You could just let me bring you in, ya know?” Sharon snuck in the option, letting it hang between them, wondering if he’d give in that easily.

“It doesn’t work like that. Either you die or I do. It’s that simple,” Eduardo promised, and Sharon felt like that was a little bit dramatic and he might want to weigh his options a little more before jumping to a conclusion like that.

“Eduardo, buddy, I feel like you are in the wrong line of work. Come be an informant for my people. We come with better insurance, I can almost guarantee it,” Sharon continued to push. There was always a chance she wouldn’t have to kill him. Fury wouldn’t be thrilled but would accept it. It looked like Eduardo was actually maybe considering it. She figured, health insurance was a pretty big pull. She was starting to feel the tension of the fight calming a little as he considered her offer and Sharon’s gun lowered slightly. Before she could make another quip or Eduardo could say exactly what he did want though, a shiny silver cannister was rolling up next to him. Sharon had seen these before, had used them before, had avoided them before. The funny thing though was these were SHIELD issue. And the person who had rolled it over to Eduardo was not a SHIELD agent. He was a known gang leader, one of Eduardo’s bosses. Eduardo never got to choose what he wanted as Sharon dove backward and the blast sounded in the alley. There was blood and debris everywhere, shrapnel from who knew what in all directions, and Sharon was so far from being out of the woods it hurt to think about the rest of her night. So, she ran. Eduardo was dead and she was next.

That was why it was a blur as Sharon fled. Her ears were still ringing, her eyes were watering, her adrenaline was rushing. She wasn’t sure how many wounds she had or how deep they were. All she knew was that there was a worse bad guy than the one she had come for on her tail and he was considerably more practiced in killing people than Eduardo had been. Now, all she had to rely on were her own skills. So, she fled down several streets and through several alleys she could pass through until she hit a bar a block or so over. She saw a line of motorcycles lined up outside. Best to piss off a motorcycle gang rather than get killed by the guys she’d just encountered. So, Sharon hotwired one of the bikes. It wasn’t the first time she’d done this, and she didn’t love the idea of stealing from more very angry people. She did enjoy being alive though so, she took off on the bike. As she rode, she tried to formulate a plan. She would ditch the bike at an impound lot, it was easier. There was one near where Nat currently lived. Sharon would go there and ditch the bike and get cleaned up and maybe Nat could help give her a few minor stitches so she could avoid the hospital. Sharon could see this working out for her. She was just starting to feel hopeful as she headed toward Nat’s place when it started raining. Why was this her life? Rain hadn’t even been forecasted that night! Sharon was starting to feel like she had really shitty luck!

She left the bike at the lot and walked through the rain like the hot mess she was. She spotted Nat’s building and climbed up her fire escape rather than walk through the building and have to answer unwanted questions from her neighbors should they wonder who’s coming in that time of night looking like she did. Once at the right level, Sharon rapped on the window a few times, knowing Nat would be home. She even called out to her, knowing she was being too loud since her ears were still ringing lightly and her hearing wasn’t going back to normal. Her luck swayed to the side of the good once more as Natasha’s concerned face appeared, coming closer to let her inside. Nat’s expression was also intermingled with something else, something that alerted Sharon that her problems were not over for the night. Wondering what could possibly make this situation worse, Steve Rogers was walking up right behind Nat and Sharon suddenly had a small inclination to just jump off the fire escape and call it a night. That was stupid and would probably kill her and really wasn’t worth salvaging Kate over though so, Sharon just sat there on Nat’s fire escape, drenched and disgusting and bleeding from more than one place on her body, looking dumbfounded and at a complete loss. Nat still seemed to have her head on her shoulders because she was smart enough to open up her window and drag Sharon’s messy ass inside her apartment. Sharon let her, not sure what else to do.

Steve was looking at her like she was a ghost. She figured, he was putting pieces together in his head and she wasn’t sure which ones they were, but they definitely involved some kind of level of betrayal, most likely. Alongside the betrayal Sharon was guessing was developing though, Sharon spied something like concern. Maybe he still thought she was just Kate and had somehow managed to have a crazy night and ended up there by mistake. Yeah, fat chance. Natasha was in best friend, helpful mode though and was helping Sharon get over to her couch. She had the intelligence to lay down a blanket before getting Sharon to sit down though. She was also saying something, but Sharon’s head was pounding from all the ringing in her ears. She read her lips instead of trying to make sense of what she was hearing.

“That is a shitload of blood,” Nat had opened with. Even though it sounded far-away and shrouded in ringing, Sharon could imagine Nat’s tone just by knowing her. Sharon managed a weak little smile.

“You should see the other guy,” she managed to get out, still too loud, knowing that was not what she should have been saying right then. Steve was watching over Nat’s shoulder, an incredulous look on his face at Sharon’s reaction. He also looked a little angry now. Those puzzle pieces were flying together, and it wasn’t a very pretty picture they were making.

“What the hell is going on?” Steve asked, Sharon reading his lips and knowing by his expression that he was clearly pissed. Natasha looked back at Steve and then back to Sharon like she wasn’t sure if she should be explaining or Sharon should.

“I’m going to go get a first aid kit,” Natasha told them, implying she absolutely wasn’t going to be the one explaining this one. She moved away from Sharon to go get her kit and Sharon was left sitting there, staring at Steve, barely able to hear properly, covered in blood and dirt and rain and whatever else had gotten on her during the alley explosion which was likely parts of the alley itself.

“You should sit down,” Sharon told him, still too loud. She suddenly felt bad for Nat’s neighbors and figured she had better start making an effort to talk quieter even if she couldn’t hear her own words. Steve shook his head at her suggestion like he couldn’t believe any of this was happening. Nonetheless, he took a seat across from her in an armchair and gestured that she should start talking with an impatient expression and his arms out in confusion.

“What the fuck, Kate?” he asked, simply and letting the swear impress upon her that he wanted answers. Nat came back out with her first aid kit and a wet washcloth. Sharon took her attention away from the angry super soldier and back to her best friend. She gave Nat a look that thanked her and appreciated her and would be spending a lot of time trying to repay her down the line for helping her. Then, she went back to the problem at hand, which weirdly enough, wasn’t her numerous wounds. Nat started tending them, something they’d had to do many times before. She was just assessing them to start, finding out what looked deep enough it might need some stitches and what just needed to be cleaned and bandaged.

“Sorry, there was a bomb,” Sharon told them, trying to make it clear why she couldn’t hear very well. Steve looked even more confused and Nat simply gave a knowing nod.

“Who hasn’t been there?” Nat muttered, cleaning up one of Sharon’s arms.

“My name’s not Kate,” Sharon looked Steve dead in the eyes as she gave him the truth. He looked like he wanted to blurt out, No Shit Sherlock, but was restraining himself. She was glad because her head was really starting to hurt now. She couldn’t remember if she’d hit it during the explosion but felt like she must have. “I’m a SHIELD agent. They call me Agent Thirteen,” she pushed on, trying to be as straightforward as possible without revealing everything but revealing enough that he hopefully wouldn’t hate her forever. He was piecing it all together and trying to figure out how mad he was.

“So, you know Natasha? Have known her this whole time?” he asked, looking like he was being betrayed by both of them and Sharon wished she knew him well enough to tell him to stop doing that. This really was not that big of a deal. It was pretty much the nature of their job!

“Nat is my best friend,” Sharon confessed, knowing that wouldn’t hurt much since he’d pretty much drawn that conclusion by her showing up there at all. People didn’t show up on the fire escape of a casual acquaintance, that just wasn’t a thing!

“And when you guys met each other the other day at my apartment?” Steve asked, leaving his question open.

“Despite whatever you might think, we’re actually pretty decent spies,” Nat chimed in. Sharon gave her a look like, maybe this wasn’t the best time. Then again, she’d already laid down her own fair amount of sarcasm since arriving so, maybe they were both just tactless and harsh.

“Fury put me in your building, to help and watch out for you. You know, like a bodyguard,” Sharon told Steve, trying to help explain the whole arrangement. He didn’t look very satisfied with her explanation. He looked a little insulted.

“I don’t need a bodyguard,” Steve spat out the last word like he couldn’t believe he had to explain this to them.

“Oh, but you do,” Sharon countered. “You’d just come out of the ice and moved into a new place and fought against a bunch of aliens and joined the super club with my best friend over here and people were worried it might be too much. It’s too much for any normal person. I don’t think super soldier serum helps you deal with trauma any better,” Sharon laid it out for him bluntly and wished her head wasn’t pounding and she sounded nicer like Kate used to. Steve looked taken aback that she’d so eagerly laid his mental health out to air so quickly and with so few boundaries.

“I should have at least been part of that decision-making process,” Steve was actually trying to argue his case with two women who had worked for SHIELD for years, who had not had much say in anything for most of their careers and hadn’t been about to complain about it like he just had.

“Oh yeah, Fury was definitely going to come and ask you, while you were in a very fragile mental state, whether or not you wanted someone to secretly be there to help you,” Sharon spat sarcastically, she was being a little mean and Nat applied a little pressure to her arm as the words left her mouth to warn her she was pushing too hard. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Sharon tried to take it back right away but could see that she’d already offended Steve. She had to explain what she meant. “It’s just, this is SHIELD. They don’t ask what you want. Imagine if you weren’t Captain America and you were just some random guy who came out of the ice who happened to have super strength and all that. Put yourself in Fury’s shoes. Think strategically. Would you have told random Joe Strong Man that you had someone there to help him if something went wrong?” Sharon asked, trying to get him to see where they had all been coming from. He looked annoyed that she was using an example like he was a child and Sharon knew she was losing him on this.

“He’s done it for all of us Steve. I was pretty much the exact same person as Thirteen for Tony when they brought him in and he’s friends with me now. Can you get your panties out of a wad and realize this isn’t that big of a deal?” Natasha interjected, looking between the two of them like she wanted this conversation over as soon as possible.

“And when they first brought Nat in, I was her roommate and they had me giving regular reports and guess what, we’re best friends now,” Sharon added onto what Natasha had shared. “And I’m not asking you to be friends with me, but I am explaining that this isn’t as big of a betrayal as the look on your face implies,” she watched as he calmed down, realizing they were right and Sharon even thought she spotted a hint of embarrassment that he’d made such a big deal out of all of it. He had a right to be frustrated, they’d both lied, but it wasn’t as bad as he’d initially thought.

“I’m not going to pretend I completely understand all of this and I want to meet with Fury tomorrow about all of it, but I see that you don’t have some cruel intentions here,” Steve reconciled. “You look like whatever your night involved was pretty serious,” he added on, looking more understanding now. “You said there was a bomb?” he even sounded curious.

“There were these guys at a nightclub, and I was outnumbered, 3 to 1. I’m not going to lie, I might have stolen one of your moves,” Sharon joked, remembering how the trashcan lid had felt in her hand but Steve only looked confused and Nat looked amused. “There was a bomb and a gang boss, and I stole a motorcycle and it started raining,” Sharon shared more, knowing they weren’t about to go telling everyone and she gave no specifics.

“And you dressed up just to pick a fight? This is cute by the way, is it new?” Nat asked, gesturing to Sharon’s destroyed dress. That was when Sharon really noticed, what had started the night as a beautiful, white dress was now a deeply stained red dress, complete with pink, splotchy spots where the red from all the blood had seeped over from the rain. It looked like a bad tie-dye accident.

“Believe it or not, this dress was white when I left my house tonight,” Sharon told her, a little sadly at a good dress going to waste.

“We could always just dye it red and I could take it off your hands for you,” Nat offered with a sly little grin. Only her Russian assassin friend would repurpose a bloodstained dress.

“You may keep it, but only because I love you most,” Sharon promised with a little snort of a laugh. Steve looked so confused, like he had thought he was starting to understand women and then he’d witnessed this encounter and now he really knew he had no clue.

“Look, I was just here to go over things for tomorrow’s mission. It looks like the two of you have whatever this is covered. I’ll set that meeting with Fury up tomorrow, Kate… I mean Agent Thirteen. I’m going to go ahead and get going,” Steve was trying to dismiss himself, knowing he’d seen more than he could handle tonight and wanting a little time to process everything before he’d inevitably be bringing it up with their boss. Somehow though, he still felt some concern, some compassion for what his neighbor/bodyguard/spy-next-door had gone through. “I hope you feel better soon,” he tagged on, giving her a kind of shy look that left Sharon feeling a little warmer despite the dampness and the pain and the aching.

“Thank you,” she murmured as he nodded and headed out, leaving the two women to deal with Sharon’s mess of a body. “And thank you,” Sharon directed her attention to Nat, gratitude plain on her face. “I hate no-extraction missions,” she confessed, knowing Nat had been on that same boat too many times to count.

“Good thing you remembered which window was mine,” Natasha mused, not making a big deal out of helping her out. “Otherwise, you might’ve woken up all my neighbors and there would be police reports of a blood-covered blond woman climbing fire escapes in the night,” she continued, making Sharon smile through the pain.

“Do you have any aspirin?” Sharon asked as she settled enough to really start feeling everything that hurt and started to assess what would hurt way worse when she woke up in the morning. Nat just shook her head and pulled some out of her first aid kit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a little longer to post this chapter all, I went on a weekend trip last weekend (it was so fun!) and then had a hectic work week. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've got another waiting in the wings and am working on chapter 6 currently so, more is on its way. Thank you so much for reading, leaving kudos, and commenting. Everything is VERY appreciated.


	5. The One with the Personal Boundary Issues

“I just can’t believe you couldn’t even find it in yourself to come to me and ask me if I wanted someone watching me in my own home,” Steve was still pouting. The three of them, Steve, Sharon, and Fury, had been in Fury’s office for half an hour talking about the terms and conditions to Agent Thirteen being Steve’s bodyguard. He still didn’t look thrilled about it, but Sharon knew he understood that he wasn’t going to get what he wanted from this situation and he would be stuck with a bodyguard, whether it was her or someone new. She had mostly kept quiet during this meeting. She’d shown up promptly at Fury’s message that he, Rogers, and her would be having a meeting. She’d cleaned herself up remarkably well considering the mission she had been on the night before and had covered most of the now visible bruising with heavy makeup and her stitches were hidden beneath her work attire. She’d gotten through the hours leading to the meeting with pain meds and too much coffee. Now, she looked calm and cool and like she listened to the complaints of super soldiers regularly.

“I think this conversation is over,” Fury was getting ready to dismiss them and Sharon simply shrugged, agreeing with him. “Thirteen stays. She’s your bodyguard. Feel it out for a while, you might even find this arrangement actually works for you. If any real problems arise, come meet with me again,” Fury left it open for further discussion down the line. Sharon felt this was pretty diplomatic and knew he was giving out allowances for Captain America, but she kept her mouth shut, offering only a nod of agreement.

“So, that’s it?” Steve asked the question with something like annoyance in his tone.

“That’s it,” Fury said flatly. “Now, get out of my office, you’re not my only meeting this morning,” he was actually kicking them out now and Sharon got to her feet, eager to leave. She had that slight feeling like she was a kid again and she and another kid had gotten in trouble and been sent to the principal and they’d just gotten off easy and she was ready to go. The look on Steve’s face said he didn’t feel the same way and was frustrated he hadn’t gotten the outcome he’d been looking for. Sharon could think of worse situations. She was a pretty good neighbor and she was definitely a good spy. Fury wouldn’t have put her in the position he had if she wasn’t. Steve was lucky, even if he didn’t know it.

The two of them left the office and headed into the hall outside. Sharon was ready to part ways and call it a day when Steve surprised her by falling into step beside her, obviously wanting to continue the conversation even if Fury had ended it. Sharon started mentally preparing for a lot of complaining. She gave a sideways glance and realized he was sort of sizing her up, taking account of who she was, trying to figure her out. It was a little uncomfortable, but she didn’t show it.

“You don’t look like you were hit by a bomb last night,” Steve started with and it caught Sharon unaware as she’d been anticipating whining, and this wasn’t that.

“Yeah, modern makeup does wonders,” she told him easily, like she’d been expecting this talk even though she clearly hadn’t.

“Huh, well, I’m glad you look better,” he said and then realized how his words could be perceived. “Not that you looked bad before, just…” he was really fumbling over his words now and Sharon couldn’t help it, she laughed. She wasn’t Kate anymore. She didn’t have to pretend to be something.

“I get it. Not being drenched in blood does a lot for a girl’s complexion,” she let him off the hook and he offered a tiny, nearly imperceptible smile. She caught it and knew it was time to deal with the conversation he really wanted to have with her. “Go ahead, say what you want to say, I know it’s killing you,” she told him outright. He looked a little taken aback at how upfront she was but also seemed sort of appreciative. They did talk around a lot of things in this business. Maybe saying something for what it was carried some weight with him.

“I’m just not very comfortable with this arrangement,” he confessed as if she hadn’t just listened to him make that very clear in the meeting earlier. They made their way through more halls and Sharon wasn’t entirely sure where they were headed now that they were stuck walking together.

“Neither am I, honestly,” Sharon told him, and his brows came together in a look of confusion.

“Really?” he asked, wanting her to elaborate.

“Yeah, it was a lot easier being Kate. Kate was just a nurse, easy-going, simple. Now, you’ve got Agent Thirteen next door and that’s complicated and comes with a lot of questions I’m not thrilled to answer,” she told him honestly and she was a little startled at how much she was revealing to him openly. His expression showed that he was just as bewildered by her honesty but also, maybe a little grateful for it. He also looked like he had a solution to their problem.

“Maybe if we just set some boundaries, decide how we want this to work…” he trailed off, but it was a good idea and Sharon thought he was definitely onto something.

“I like it. It sounds like a healthy, responsible way to handle our little predicament,” she encouraged him.

“I agree. Any ideas for making it less complicated for you?” he asked her, wanting her to take the lead.

“Don’t ask me about my life or my name. We go by names like Agent Thirteen around here for reasons that mostly pertain to safety,” she jumped right in, getting her main concern off her chest. He looked a little unsettled by that but nodded. Maybe it hadn’t occurred to him that this could be a safety issue or maybe he was already curious about her and wanted to ask questions but now wouldn’t be able to. Nonetheless, he let this new rule start off their growing list.

“I can do that,” he agreed. “I want you to knock first before coming into my house. It’s rude not to knock, even if you’re a spy,” he told her. Sharon actually laughed.

“I can knock, that’s not a problem,” she told him, eyes glinting. What did he take this for? Did he think she’d just start showing up in his living room now that he knew she was a SHIELD agent? It was an entertaining thought. “I’d like it if you could stay out of my apartment completely, especially while I get rid of all the fake Kate staging. I have a falsified nursing degree in there,” Sharon told him, a touch of amusement in her voice. He looked uncomfortable at the idea of her fake documentation but nodded again like this was reasonable.

“I would like it if you’re not always listening in,” Steve cut in. Sharon felt her facial features freeze slightly. They hadn’t brought up surveillance in the meeting in terms of listening devices and Sharon couldn’t take them out of his apartment. She had to figure this was the first rule she’d be breaking right off the bat. Her expression turned solemn as she pushed the lie through her lips.

“I can manage that,” she told him. It was more of a half-truth. He didn’t need to know how much she had already been listening in as it was. “But, if you don’t want me to listen in, you’ll need to be more forthcoming with me. I know we’re not really friends, but I need you to talk to me, let me know what’s going on,” she told him, trying to make it sound like a compromise. It would make her job a little easier too, if he opened up to her more.

“I will try to tell you what I can,” he offered, rather noncommittally, like he knew that was a promise he wasn’t sure if he could keep. “I’d like it if you manage to keep yourself out of danger. Nothing’s happened at the apartment yet, but in this job, things happen. If I want your help, I’ll yell for you. You don’t need to come rushing in every time someone sneezes,” Steve seemed to press this, thinking it was a real issue. Sharon saw the amount of action his home had gotten so far and felt like this was unnecessary. He also had no idea what she was capable of and she was a little insulted he was treating her like a civilian.

“I was a fake nurse. You don’t know if I’m able to help with sneezing issues,” she joked. He winced slightly and she knew it was too early to joke about the nurse stuff. “But I will try not to cause more dangerous situations,” she compromised.

“And no weapons, just lying around if you do stop by my place. Nat’s done it twice, left a gun on my table. Keep your stuff put away if you have it, please,” he pushed, and Sharon felt like he anticipated her spending a lot of time there if this was already coming up. Maybe this was going to work out okay after all.

“I have one last request,” Sharon put out, leading into it. “In this line of work, you’re going to have moments when you think you can’t trust me because I’m a spy, but just know, I have your back and I want you to at least try to trust me. That’s one of the reasons Fury wanted me in this position. I’ve got your best interests at heart, okay? I’m on your side,” Sharon said this last part with meaning. She knew this job and the hardships and the way it sometimes came between people. It would be easier to help Steve if he wasn’t actively against her.

“It might take a while to get there, but thank you for that, for being on my side and for telling me,” his voice was a little quieter, like he wasn’t sure how to express this sentiment but it was honest and Sharon felt like he was putting effort in. They were stuck with each other, but they would make the most of it.

“I’m actually really late. I’m going to be able to do more missions again, since Kate has been blown and I no longer have to hide from you at work,” Sharon changed the direction of their conversation, trying to break off from him. Instead of him letting her just walk away though, a funny look crossed his face, like he was amused.

“You had to hide from me at work?” he asked, laughter in his tone.

“Don’t ask,” Sharon grumbled, “I once spent a good amount of time hiding in a broom closet with an agent who I thought was dead because of you,” she confessed, not giving details, thinking it was funnier to watch his face transition into something between amusement and horror at the mere idea.

“I guess you’ve learned your lesson. Never pretend to be something you’re not, it ends with you in a broom closet,” he told her, and it sounded enough like a joke for Sharon to crack a laugh.

“I was just doing my job,” she told him unapologetically.

“I’m coming to terms with it,” he let her know and it was reassuring. If he could let it go, that meant there was actual hope for a friendship there. And, more importantly, it meant there was hope that he could forgive bigger secrets like who she was and her connections to him. She hoped she wouldn’t have to confess any of those things any time soon, but she wanted to think he would someday be okay with them, with her.

“I will see you when I see you Rogers,” she nodded, turning to break away from him and head to her next location.

“Bye, Agent Thirteen,” he murmured. Sharon could just barely hear it as she strode in a direction away from him, but she caught the words and he couldn’t see the smile that lingered, the smile she kept all the way to the office of paperwork awaiting her.


	6. The One with the Power Outage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I've been super sick for over a week, hopefully not with Covid 19 (my doctor said it probably isn't that because I have no fever) and haven't felt up to much of anything and have just been focusing on my online schooling (working on my bachelor's in computer science). Here's a super fluffy, overly-indulgent chapter to hopefully make you smile. This one's a little on the shorter side because the next one is an absolute beast of a chapter, complete with a super fun mission if you're into that sort of thing. As usual, thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to follow my Sharon blog on tumblr at https://sharon-effing-carter.tumblr.com/ to throw up prompts and tropes in my ask box ( https://sharon-effing-carter.tumblr.com/ask ) for things you'd like to see in this fic or just for updates and images for each chapter.

It had been a few weeks since Kate had been burned after Sharon’s mission and things were starting to find their new normal. It wasn’t like Sharon was out going on missions with Captain America, but they tried to remain relatively friendly with one another in the halls at the Trisk or their apartment building. It was all very casual and no one looking from the outside would ever guess it was an acquaintance between a superhero and a secret agent. They certainly wouldn’t assume Sharon was Captain America’s bodyguard.

Sharon was just getting used to everything, settling into the minimally conflicted dynamic they shared. She tried to give him some space and the illusion that she wasn’t listening in, but she also did her job. She noticed him starting to do better as well, sleeping more regularly and not crying out from nightmares as often. Maybe just the knowledge that someone was next door to help put him at ease? Or maybe he was more eager to hide how he felt now that he knew she was right there. Either way, it seemed like he spent fewer nights roaming his apartment while Sharon surveilled him.

Since she’d gone back to being Agent Thirteen instead of just Kate the nurse, Sharon’s life had actually become more chaotic. She was back on her own solo missions alongside her surveillance and found her schedule a mix of super soldier babysitting and high-speed car chases and reporting to Fury that Captain America was finally acclimating nicely and then going out on risky espionage missions. She found juggling both jobs to be a little overwhelming and was starting to love her work less than she usually did. She felt like there was a gap in her life and wished she could just combine her two different missions. Did she want to work more closely with Steve? And was it really just for convenience’s sake or were her motives more in depth? She couldn’t answer these questions for herself.

That evening had been this exact dilemma in action. She’d spent her night chasing another lead on a SHIELD tech leak which had led her down dark alleys in rough neighborhoods and had inevitably ended with her empty-handed and more than a little frustrated. It had been pouring for hours and by the time she got home to start her surveillance, she looked and smelled like a wet dog. She was tired and felt like she was going from one job to another. She just kept clenching her teeth and reminding herself that she had wanted this, had agreed to this when Fury had suggested it. This was going to be her showpiece later on in her career, the thing she said she did that others couldn’t. She imagined herself making a speech to SHIELD trainees of the future about this exact night as she showered off the grime from the night, even mumbling to herself, “and at the peak of my career, I was both Captain America’s bodyguard and hunting down missing tech on missions so, remember that when you’re whining over the late nights of training.” Everyone had to have at least one good work fantasy to get through the long days, right?

Once she smelled considerably less horrible, she slipped into yoga pants and a loose sweater and parked herself on her couch with a laptop and some headphones to start going through the day’s audio for Rogers and take notes. She had just gotten herself completely calmed down and settled in after the hectic night when, naturally, shit hit the fan.

Of course, she couldn’t just have one easy night while she juggled her two lives. No, something always had to happen. The universe never gave Carter women breaks, no, it gave them side-missions and they were totally ridiculous! Tonight’s disruption to her routine came in the form of darkness. Not just that slightly annoying, the bulb in the lamp went out darkness, but pitch black in the corners, all the appliances just turned off for the first time in a long time, the neighbors are calling out to one another in the halls to make sure everything is okay dark. There was a power outage.

Sharon simply sat still for a moment, the dimmed light of her laptop in low-power mode looking more eerie in the dark. The internet connection was out with the power and her connection to one of the SHIELD servers had been severed. She had a lost connection signal on her screen, and she knew she wasn’t getting any work done tonight. She also needed to check in on Rogers. She hadn’t gotten access to his audio feeds and had no idea if he was having a difficult day or a good one, if she was supposed to be sending a report to push him to get in with the therapist this week or if he was showing more progress. She needed to know if everything was okay and it was starting to look like this would need to be done the old-fashioned way, by going over and just talking to him.

Sharon shutdown her slowly dying laptop and used her phone as a flashlight. She slipped on some house slippers and peeked out into the hall, shining her light both ways down the hall. To her surprise, Steve’s door was cracked open too and he was looking out as well. She quirked up a little half-smile at the sight of him just as curious as her as to what was going on and she stepped the rest of the way out into the hall and moved toward him. He widened his door as well, easing up slightly which flattered her, that he was becoming more comfortable around her.

“Any clue what caused the outage?” Steve asked her immediately, a small measure of worry in his tone. Sharon normally would have laughed, thinking he always needed an excuse to go try to save someone, but part of her knew that instinct had saved a lot of lives in the past and she had respect for it as well.

“Probably the storm. We’ve had them like this before, hurricane level winds. I was out there earlier and had a feeling it might take a turn for the worst,” she filled him in. He gave a nod of understanding.

“Any word from SHIELD? Do they need any help with anything?” Steve asked, almost as if he was wondering why they were talking about it, like they needed an excuse to discuss the weather in the hall for some reason now.

“Not unless there’s a weather monster causing the storm,” Sharon offered sarcastically, and Steve raised a brow. They’d seen a lot; this wasn’t entirely beyond the imagination. “It’s just weather. Unless you’ve got a hook-up at the power company, I think it’s one of those nights you just have to kind of ride out, ya know?” she told him casually. He looked a little disappointed and Sharon wasn’t sure why since the extent of his electric use was pretty limited to lights, playing sad music, and making coffee. Maybe he’d had big plans to listen to sad songs into the wee hours of the morning.

“I suppose. Do you have any candles or lanterns?” he asked her, sounding more like the soldier he’d been in another time, prepared and checking up on others.

“Actually, no. I never brought any in when I took on the cover of Kate so, I don’t really have much. What about you?” she asked, feeling a little silly for being a spy who wasn’t prepped for something as simple as a power outage.

“I’ve got some candles. You’re welcome to come in and enjoy what light I’ve got for a while if you like. It is still pretty early,” he offered. It was past ten but with the odd hours they kept, he was right. Sharon took a moment to assess the option. She’d get a chance to go in and talk to him, exactly what she wanted, but she also wondered if she was taking advantage of his trust. She made a quiet promise to herself not to push him too much or act half as manipulative as she had when she’d talked to him as Kate. She nodded appreciatively and glanced toward his open doorway.

“Thanks, I’d actually appreciate it. I know I wouldn’t normally be able to fall asleep for a few hours yet and wasn’t looking forward to sitting alone in the dark,” she confessed. He looked like he may have been in the same boat and actually liked the prospect of company. Sharon turned and shut her apartment behind her and then made her way into Steve’s apartment, him standing aside, gesturing her through the door.

His apartment looked dramatic by candlelight and shadows danced on the walls when Sharon stepped inside and Steve closed the door behind her. Everything was calm and quiet inside, but outside, the wind was roaring, and the rain was hammering down on every open surface, making for loud work. Steve trailed further into the apartment after her and took a seat on an armchair. He indicated that she could sit on the couch if she liked. “Make yourself at home,” he offered half-heartedly. Sharon knew better than to get too comfortable and knew he was being polite, she still needed to get at least a little information out of him for her report later.

“Thank you, I appreciate the light and the company,” she told him, taking a seat on the couch and tucking her feet up to her side, leaning on a throw pillow.

“It’s no problem, really,” Steve emphasized, almost shyly like he didn’t want her to think he was being overly nice or something. They had a lot of work to do on these boundaries they were setting and figuring out just how much Steve would be over-compensating with politeness. Sharon thought of that night at Nat’s when she’d stumbled in through the fire escape window and how candid she had been with him. How had that moment been more comfortable than this one? Her ears weren’t even ringing from a bombing, and she wasn’t drenched in blood. She didn’t want things to be awkward just because Steve knew she was a SHIELD agent. She needed to get him to loosen up somehow.

“When I was a little girl, during storms like these, I used to think the howls of the wind were ghosts,” Sharon found herself indulging in a story. It was true. She’d been a very imaginative child. “On nights like this one, I’d hide out in a little fort I made out of blankets and leave my flashlight on until the batteries died because I wanted to see one of the ghosts but I didn’t want to get caught up late after my bedtime,” she shared, wanting to start a conversation to break that streak of polite comments, to make things a little more real. Steve looked confused at first, as if he was wondering why she’d share something like this, but Sharon could see him picturing it in his head and something like a tiny smile flitted onto his features.

“And do you still believe in ghosts?” he asked her, humoring her and seeming entertained enough by the idea.

“The rational part of my brain tells me not to, that it’s about as real as the prospect of spotting a unicorn in the street. But, another part of me thinks maybe they are real. Look at all the things we see every day. Where is the rule that says ghosts aren’t real, but the Norse god of thunder is?” she asked him, brows raised up in a teasing challenge. She’d seen Thor from afar and he still barely looked real yet there he was.

“I think that’s a more open-minded approach,” he agreed with her. “And, as a kid who grew up catholic, I’m kind of required to think ghosts are real,” he added on solemnly and Sharon let out a short laugh.

“That’s as good a reason as any, I guess,” she sighed contentedly, feeling the tension of the polite atmosphere slipping away into something more casual, something more friendly and simple. She’d made that happen.

“So, should we build your little fort?” he asked with a hint of spontaneity. Sharon’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected that, and it sounded like a pretty ridiculous suggestion. For all of a second, she wondered if she was actually in some weird, fever dream brought on by chasing that guy in the rain earlier.

“Are… Are you asking if I want to build a blanket fort in Captain America’s living room?” she asked him, her tone dry and unbelieving. He smiled at her reaction, which only threw her off even more.

“You made it sound fun. And how many chances will we, as adults in this line of work, be able to do something like that? Something silly or just for fun?” he asked her, and Sharon saw something in him that was rarely, if ever there otherwise. He was just a human being, living a very stressful life, who was maybe a little bit desperate for one thing to have done just because it was actually fun to do. Sharon was now responsible for making sure it happened and a resolved look crossed her features.

“In that case, I’m going to need all of the pillows and blankets you have. Also, we’re going to have to move some of these candles back because they are absolutely a fire hazard,” she told him, mockingly directing him. For once, he was fine being told what to do and got up to get supplies. Sharon followed him, watching as he pulled some blankets out from a linen closet and holding out her arms to carry them. They brought their goods over near the couch and Sharon set them down on his armchair. She could see the gears turning in Steve’s head and he was concocting the perfect build plan for this completely frivolous and silly fort with the same patience and strategy he used for missions. It was both highly entertaining and somehow kind of impressive.

“We’ll have to use the cushions to anchor one side but I think we should be able to fasten the top of the fort to the backing on the couch,” he told her, sounding like he may just have built a fort or two like this in his lifetime as well. He got right to work, and Sharon helped him fasten the blankets in place and anchor them down with the cushions. She couldn’t believe they were actually doing this and felt a sudden wave of relief that all the listening devices were currently down and no one else at SHIELD needed to know she and Steve Rogers had built a blanket fort during the storm. This was something that felt absolutely absurd and that was just for them.

“I have to say, this looks a lot sturdier than the kind of I used to make,” Sharon admitted, giving one of the sides of the blanket a little tug to test how well it held up. Steve was standing back, admiring the handywork. Sharon grabbed one of the pillows and headed inside the fort. Steve looked uncomfortable for a moment, like he hadn’t realized this had led up to actually going inside the fort. Sharon flopped back against the pillow, her back against the couch, there was enough room to sit upright easily. Steve seemed to discard his discomfort and joined her, seeming somehow resigned.

“I’ve made a fort or two in my life too,” Steve opened up to her in turn, settling in so he was sitting beside her. Their arms were just barely close enough to touch and it made the hairs on Sharon’s arm stand on edge slightly when he first sat down. “Growing up, I had a best friend, Bucky, and I’d stay with him sometimes. We’ve made a couple forts like this. I guess, no matter how much time passes, some things don’t change,” he reminisced.

“I know it must feel like everything is different now but I’m glad there are still little things like this,” Sharon said reflectively, gesturing to the blankets hanging around them. It was dark but the opening in the blankets offered enough light from the candles and Sharon’s eyes were adjusting to the light well enough. The two of them settled into the quiet for a moment, letting the idea of all the time that had passed and all the similarities between then and now just be what it was. Sharon felt a strange sense of peace overtake her and she didn’t feel like she was working at all. She felt like she was making a friend who she would keep for a very long time. She didn’t know what was going through his head though and he seemed to have a lot going on in there. “What’s on your mind?” she asked gently, phrasing it in a way that was so casual, so simple, like he could choose if he felt like answering it or ignoring it altogether and it would be okay. Instead of letting it go though, he answered right away.

“I just can’t get over the fact that I know you’re this tough agent who survives bombings on weeknights and you believe in ghosts and will sit in a blanket fort in the dark with me, but you still haven’t told me your name,” Steve mused and Sharon felt the peace of the moment ease up a bit, tinged by a hint of tension. She didn’t want to tell him her name, but it didn’t have to be a point of contention between them, she could turn it into something else. Instead of allowing herself to become irritated that he’d broken one of their rules and was talking about this, she let out a quick laugh, like he was joking around even though his tone had not been joking at all.

“I’ll tell you what Rogers, if you can solve the mystery, figure it out, I’ll tell you whether you got it right,” Sharon gave him a challenge, not really realizing how much trouble those words could cause her down the line, but feeling like they were an easy cop out. This was a tomorrow Sharon problem, not a today Sharon problem. Steve looked eager to solve the puzzle and Sharon looked less than thrilled that they had come to this.

“Sounds like a plan,” Steve gave a little laugh and they fell into a gentle silence again, this time while the gears of Steve’s mind turned with ways to solve the mystery that was Sharon’s name and Sharon gave into the exhaustion of the day. Steve seemed like he was doing pretty well, very well even since they’d done something as silly as build a fort. She’d be able to send a positive report to Fury, even without the audio recordings. 

She didn’t know when it happened, but at some point, Sharon had fallen asleep in the blanket fort they’d built, and Steve had laid a blanket over her. She woke the next morning alone, light filtering in through the window. The storm had let up a bit and sounded less aggressive. She found a note safety pinned to the blankets saying Steve had gone out for a run and to help herself to anything if she wanted cereal or something. The power was still out so, unfortunately, there was no coffee. Sharon was embarrassed that she’d fallen asleep on his floor and promptly left his apartment to head for her own and get ready for work. The Trisk ran on generators when the power went down so, she’d still be expected in the office that day. She hoped no one ever found out about her night. Maybe the resident super soldier wouldn’t get any shit for something like that, but Agent Thirteen absolutely would.


	7. The One with the Oasis Resort Mission

“Is it Mary?” Steve asked half-heartedly as he adjusted a strap on a backpack he had on his back. He, Natasha, and Sharon had just boarded a quinjet for their first mission together as a group. Sharon was actually pretty excited. She was considered a good enough agent to join two avengers on a SHIELD mission and that was something. She’d gotten some impressed stares as she’d walked the halls that morning at the crack of dawn with the two actual superheroes at her side. She was riding a special kind of high that only came with a career success from a career driven individual.

“Nope, and this isn’t a guessing game,” Sharon shot back. He’d been trying to figure her name out and was using the easiest approach possible, just guessing random names. Sharon strode forward after Natasha who would be piloting the quinjet. Sharon would co-pilot, not that Nat really needed help. Mostly, Sharon just liked to sit up front and gossip with her while they flew. Poor Rogers would be all alone in the back while they had girl time for the trip to Mexico for their mission.

“How about Nancy?” he tried again, ignoring her statement. She rolled her eyes at him.

“Definitely not Nancy, and you seriously need to stop,” Sharon was starting to sound short with him, but they had a job to do and it wasn’t playing hours of the name game.

“Can’t you just accept the fact that her parents named her Agent Thirteen?” Natasha joked from her seat. Steve took that as his cue that he was getting carried away and stopped guessing names, much to Sharon’s relief. Nat started messing with some features on the quinjet and closed up the back which Sharon figured meant they’d better get belted in before she took off without warning. She hopped into her seat and pulled the straps into place for the ride. It wouldn’t be too bad, only a few hours.

The ride between Washington DC and the tiny town in the northern part of Mexico went smoothly. Steve mostly sat quietly while Sharon and Natasha talked over the comms about the mission ahead. Apparently, they knew the person they’d be working with as a liaison and hadn’t seen her in years but were looking forward to the brief visit before they’d be getting to work. Occasionally, Sharon glanced back at Steve to see if he was still awake and he looked like he was mentally prepping for the mission and actively trying to ignore them since he didn’t know any of the people they were mentioning. She spied a blatant eyeroll when the two women started talking about all the people their liaison had dated back during their SHIELD training days. Before they could start digging too deeply into that topic, they landed on a private airstrip at their location. Nat opened up the back and Steve got up to stretch for a moment and get some of the gear. Sharon was the first one out of the jet to greet the women whose airstrip they’d borrowed.

“Alicia!” Sharon let out a sort of high-pitched exclamation of excitement. She gave the woman a hug eagerly and Nat trailed behind her, offering a one-armed hug as well. The woman, Alicia Valdez-Juarez was a retired SHIELD employee who now helped out the organization on an as-needed basis. Currently, they needed her help and she was willing to give it.

“Agent Thirteen, Agent Romanov, it’s so nice to see you both,” the woman said back in a lightly accented voice, like she had traveled a lot and lost little parts of whatever accent she was born with. “And welcome, Agent Rogers,” Alicia smiled in welcoming. “I know you’re all in a hurry so, I’ll show you to your car and let you get changed so you can make your appointment,” she suggested. Sharon had actually been the one to fill Alicia in on their timeline and needs to make the mission run as smoothly as possible. The group grabbed the necessary equipment and trailed after Alicia along the dirt-road airstrip.

Alicia’s ranch was large and included multiple barns and at least two houses. Alicia led the trio to one of the larger barns and opened up one of the huge doors to let them inside. Once they stepped in, Alicia pointed to one of three classic cars and told them it would be their transportation for the day.

“Isn’t that a bit much? It’s not exactly inconspicuous,” Steve started, glancing at Natasha like this was her fault. Sharon knew Nat had an appreciation for fancy cars and found this quite funny.

“Actually, that’s exactly what we’re going to need to fit in at the Oasis Resort,” Sharon clued him in. Steve knew some details of the mission but hadn’t quite grasped the level of social interaction that would be required to handle this particular mission with finesse.

“Honestly, I would have gone bigger, but Thirteen remembered that Alicia had cars here and we wouldn’t need to bring something special in,” Natasha said nonchalantly. Alicia pointed up to what looked like a loft that had been converted into another living space.

“There’s plenty of room to get ready above,” Alicia told them. Natasha stayed behind to talk to Alicia for a few minutes, but Sharon knew she needed to do some work for this mission. She grabbed her bag and headed upstairs. Steve trailed behind slowly. He’d need to change but had considerably less to do than the women.

Sharon found an empty bedroom space upstairs and closed the door behind her. She changed into a ridiculously semi-sheer, overly sexy sundress that only some rich, super fit, model type would wear or an agent trying to impersonate someone like that. She did her makeup and curled her hair to make it look like she’d just hit the salon earlier. She put on a pair of strappy sandals with a slightly wedged heel. Finally, she strategically placed a few weapons on her person in whatever spots she could hide them with her current outfit. It involved a bit of creativity. When it came to her last little throwing knife, Nat came in and showed her how to hide it just right along the lining of her bra. That’s what friends were for. Natasha’s outfit was considerably tamer since she was impersonating a scientist and Sharon was impersonating a rich heiress who was getting into the criminal scene. Steve would be playing the part of a NYC stockbroker who was branching out in where and how he would be spending his rapidly accruing wealth.

Sharon got herself together as quickly as she could and then she and Natasha stepped out to find Steve awkwardly shoving his shield into the rolling presentation case Natasha would be wheeling behind her under the guise that she wanted to present a new piece of technology she was working on and had blueprints of her prototypes. The lot of them had very specific roles in this mission and objectives that Fury had revealed to them individually. They made their way to the car Alicia had pointed out and threw a few miscellaneous weapons in the back in case it came to it and just like that, they were ready to head into the belly of the beast.

The Oasis Resort was an extremely exclusive club used mostly by highly influential criminals, predominantly women. They say behind every great man is a great woman and, in this case, it also applied to the seedy underbelly of the world. Every mob boss’s smart wife or girlfriend was part of this club, every rich woman who had touched the drug trade or black market was the heart of this club, and every intelligent female scientist who had decided to use their smarts for evil instead of good made this club powerful as hell. SHIELD have had them on their radar for years but have never had direct conflict with them. That was, until now. That little leak Sharon had stumbled upon with her past case wasn’t the only one they seemed to have and their organization as a whole seemed to be hemorrhaging intel, weapons, and secret tech in all the wrong places. Fury kept this information under wraps but a select few knew exactly what was going on and were trying to find out why and how this was happening, Sharon and Natasha among their numbers. The two women would have just taken this mission on their own had they not been slipped their own little piece of intel. There was a rumored enhanced individual said to work for the Oasis Resort, someone who was there to act as the club’s muscle should anything go wrong for them. Not knowing exactly what they would be up against and with Steve sitting on the sidelines, Fury put him on the mission with the two women to help out while they got information if things got messy.

Upon their arrival at the Oasis Resort, Steve handed the keys to their car over to a squirrely looking valet and Sharon put on her most condescending yet dazzling smile as the first impression she would be giving anyone. Natasha walked two steps behind them, showing she was part of their group but wasn’t quite at their level and Steve walked beside Sharon, a neutral expression on his face.

“Make sure to plaster on your best smile,” Sharon murmured before they were within earshot of the other club members. “It’s all about the sell,” she added. She and Nat were able to sell versions of themselves so easily, but Steve seemed to struggle a little more when it came to pretending.

“Let me get right on that,” Steve offered sarcastically. He knew he needed to get on their level or else this wasn’t going to work so, he plastered an overwhelmed smile on his face, like he’d never been to a resort like this, which was pretty much true because this resort was one of the most lavish and over the top places he’d ever been and he knew Tony Stark so, that was saying something.

The group came to a sort of check-in area where a woman in an all-white business suit sat behind a desk and checked people in. “Name and appointment time,” the women said when Sharon strode up to the desk, not looking up from her screen, a permanently unimpressed and inconvenienced look plastered on her features.

“Clarissa Fairmonte, Christopher Johnson, and Farrah Moore checking in. 11 AM appointment for our tour,” Sharon offered over pointedly, like she had twelve other tours today and this one wasn’t special, but they were here and had better be escorted sooner rather than later. The woman looked used to this and typed something quickly, likely signing them in. She tapped a little button connected to an earpiece she was wearing.

“Send Ivy in, the Fairmonte group has arrived,” the woman said and another woman, this one looking considerably nicer, appeared in a doorway behind the desk and strode toward them. The woman behind the desk looked done with them and Sharon directed her attention to Ivy instead.

“Ivy Valdez, I’ll be your tour guide today Ms. Fairmonte,” Ivy piped in. She wore a matching white business suit to their front desk woman which implied this was their uniform.

“Perfect, we want to see everything the Oasis has to offer,” Sharon looked prepared for anything but in reality, they all knew this wasn’t just a fancy vacation destination and all sorts of important people were roaming the halls at this very moment.

“Of course, we’ll start with the lower level, get you acquainted with all the necessities,” Ivy promised, looking chipper. Sharon read her as an over-sharer if pushed so, now was the time to try to buddy-buddy up to their tour-guide.

“Please, do show us all the fun little details, I’m sure you’ve got all the good information on this place,” Sharon sounded like she was becoming friendly with her.

“I’ve worked here for a few years so, I do know a thing or two,” Ivy confessed, eager to show them around.

“Before I forget, Farrah here has a presentation in less than an hour. Is there a board room she can prepare in? Christopher will be sitting in so he can see whether he’s interested in investing. I’ve brought so many associates along for this little visit,” Sharon threw in, sharing a little herself to make Ivy feel like they were getting along well. Ivy pointed Natasha in the direction of a room down a hall labelled “meeting room 3” and Nat and Steve broke off from Sharon. All was going as planned. Their job was to break away from the group and find access to the computers so Nat could hack into their system. Steve would watch her back and stay on comms in case either of them had interference from the supposed enhanced.

“And this is our resort’s famed main pool area,” Ivy told Sharon as they continued on their tour without the others. They’d stepped out onto a spacious veranda with an infinity pool looking out over the hillside they had driven up earlier. Scattered along one side of the pool were several lounge chairs in the water in a built-in tanning shelf. On one of those loungers, Ivy’s eyes couldn’t quite seem to move away from. Whoever she was, she was very important.

“Who is that?” Sharon asked conspiratorially, leaning in so Ivy would feel like this was just between them. In her earpiece, Sharon could hear Steve and Nat talking about getting into the computers, they were making fast progress and there were no signs of danger yet.

“She checks in as Alessandra Santiago, but that’s not what they all call her,” Ivy murmured timidly. There was something hinting at fear in her eyes. Sharon immediately wondered how many interactions Ivy had encountered with this Alessandra.

“Well, what do they call her? Is it something rude?” Sharon asked, her tone joking and light, she was still a rich heiress thinking of joining a club, touring an insane property they called a resort.

“They just call her Boss Lady and they call her husband Boss Man and when they come here, they’re treated like royalty,” Ivy told her, quite the well of information.

“Aren’t we all treated like royalty at the Oasis Resort?” Sharon asked, brows raised slightly.

“Yes, but the rest of you are like princesses and duchesses and she is like the queen. It’s just different,” Ivy described and then looked like she realized she’d overstepped and caught herself. “I mean, of course, you’re all important,” she tried to mend the interaction. This offered a decent enough opening for Sharon.

“Well, I’d like to meet this queen, see what’s so special about her,” she said haughtily, embracing the “heiress” she was. Before Ivy could object, Sharon was taking off toward the lounging area. She positioned herself in a total power move, blocking the sun with her body so Alessandra would look to see who was in the way and it worked immediately.

“Who are you?” Alessandra asked, a touch of venom in her tone. She lifted back her over-sized sunglasses to get a better look at Sharon’s face, maybe expecting an employee and not a club member.

“Oh, no, the question is not who I am, but who are you?” Sharon twisted the words casually as if this was what was coming all along.

“I am Alessandra Santiago and I pay a lot of money to this club so that random strangers won’t come stand in my way,” she spat the words out, clearly annoyed with Sharon.

“Well, I am Clarissa Fairmonte and I won’t be paying a lot of money to a club like this if all its other members will be treated as second-rate next to you when I’m not sure what exactly about you is so special to begin with,” Sharon spat back wondering if she was a snobby rich lady in a past life because this was coming eerily easily to her. Alessandra looked furious at being spoken to like this and stood up, looking ridiculous in her little designer string bikini and huge sunhat. Sharon knew that her words would coax out Alessandra’s ego and get her to tell her exactly what made her so scary.

“I am responsible for over half of the weapons trades across the Eastern Seaboard, I have revolutionized the way we trade and sell, I have made more money in one deal than you probably have in any of your little offshore accounts,” Alessandra told her like she thought Sharon was nothing. She was right. She just didn’t have all the details. Now, Sharon knew exactly who she was dealing with and how she needed to move next.

“Then you are the right person for me to talk to,” Sharon broke in like this had all been planned. Alessandra looked shocked, as did a frightened looking Ivy perched behind Sharon biting her tongue and trying to ease her very apparent anxiety. “I didn’t just want to join a club like this to throw my money around. I came to meet the right people. When you’re picking up a new skill, you want to apprentice under the best, not some mediocre second runner-up,” Sharon told her, and this definitely held Alessandra’s attention. She seemed impressed by Sharon’s guts and how boldly she had gone about this.

“And what makes you think I’ll work with you after how you’ve spoken to me?” Alessandra asked, brows rising curiously, more like she just wanted to hear Sharon’s response.

“Because it’s exactly what you would have done,” Sharon offered with a smile that seemed to put those around them at ease. It was in that moment that some of the tension diffused and Sharon realized just how much it had built up to begin with. She’d pulled a reckless move but in a place like this and an outfit like this, it really was a go big or go home occasion. She could hear Steve and Nat on the comms, saying they had the drive and that Nat was about ten minutes from having to give a fake presentation. Sharon had landed on something important. She needed to let this play out and not call it quits. If she could get enough on the Boss couple, she might be able to halt multiple weapons deals.

“You’re not wrong,” Alessandra surprised Sharon by letting out a laugh. She raised a hand and gestured to someone who was clearly there to assist her. She was quickly handed a towel and she stepped out of the pool to put herself on Sharon’s level. “You’re dismissed,” she told Ivy, who looked like she was ready to pass out in distress. Ivy scurried away and Sharon fell into step with the Boss Lady.

“I come from a very wealthy family,” Sharon started her story, side-eying Alessandra as she spoke. “All my life, they’ve said I wouldn’t be as successful as daddy was, that a woman couldn’t possibly take over the empire the way a man would. I’ve been looking for just the right way to branch out and the rules are rigged against me. I’ve got to do things differently if I want to be better than him. I need to expand how he couldn’t. And I feel like you could be the key to helping me do that,” she really sold it, knowing this was the time when Alessandra was either going to become her impersonated self’s ally or enemy. An ally meant she’d be useful in stopping everything and an enemy was simply jumping the gun to Alessandra finding out the truth anyway.

“Fuck your family,” Alessandra exclaimed, feeding right into Sharon’s fake plight. Over her earpiece, Sharon could hear that something had gone wrong on Steve and Natasha’s end and Nat had just taken out some kind of guard somewhere deep in the resort’s interior. Sharon ignored the struggle for the time being, knowing how important her reaction to Alessandra was so, she shed a tear, something she’d rehearsed before, as if moved by the Boss Lady’s agreement that her fake family was horrible. “If you stay here, we will become your new family, help you grow this empire to be so much more than they ever could have imagined,” Alessandra laid the promise out so simply that Sharon realized just how easy it was to fall into the path of villainy. All Alessandra was hearing were the sounds of a cash register clanging dollar signs before her while Sharon had laid out her persona’s clear struggle, seeking support and gaining only one more person to take advantage of her. And her persona was eager to accept.

“I’ve waited so long to find someone who understood,” Sharon expressed and before she could lay it on any thicker, chaos broke out around them. Gunshots were being fired, either from Natasha or guards, Sharon was unsure. Sharon made sure to stay in character as Clarissa and flinch away from the sound, looking to see where it was coming from. A bodyguard came out of nowhere and rushed Alessandra to safety, her calling after Sharon that they would talk again very soon. Sharon would be sure to keep this contact and alias on card for later as long as she didn’t burn it today.

People were rushing in every direction so, Sharon joined the fray, making sure to look like she was simply seeking exit as well. Nat gave her a location half-way down the hill, near where the cars were parked and for Sharon to hurry or else, she’d be walking in the desert. Sharon made it outside easily, rushing past others trying to get to safety amid the still sounding alarms that their resort had been under attack. There were different types of bodyguards and resort security everywhere, but Sharon still fit in, still looked exactly as she was supposed to. It wasn’t until she spotted Natasha and Steve up ahead that her cover started to break. Nat was still shooting, and Sharon was running toward her and the bodyguards didn’t know why. They must have figured she was just some stupid rich lady trying to get to her car. It wasn’t until Steve’s shield flung out and knocked a bodyguard down that they realized this wasn’t just an internal conflict within their own club but there was an avenger in their numbers. High alert was apparent.

“You need to make it look like you’re taking me,” Sharon muttered into her comms to Nat and Steve. “I can keep my cover if they think I was grabbed and not with you,” she told them, eager to pursue this further as soon as she got a chance. Nat understood immediately and slowed her pace just enough to let Sharon get in front of her only to grab her by the wrist and hold her at gunpoint but keep moving. Sharon put on a show of looking like she was struggling and afraid but let Natasha push her into the back of the car as soon as they hit the bottom of the hill and Steve drove them out like it was nothing, Natasha shooting anyone trying to follow them. Once they were finally in the clear, nearly back to Alicia’s, they all took a breath.

“What was that?” Steve asked as Sharon and Natasha settled in the backseat and Nat set her gun down on the seat.

“I just struck intel gold, but there wasn’t time and I couldn’t stay,” Sharon offered. Natasha nodded, knowing how these things worked. “I needed to keep my cover intact in order to sell this later though.”

“We’ve got a flash drive Fury will definitely want a look at,” Natasha told her, leaving it as what it was. There was the kind of information buried in a computer and then there were the kinds of things you only learned when you talked to someone who knew a lot. Sharon couldn’t just let the whole Alessandra thing go; it was too significant. They hadn’t necessarily won today, but they were definitely closer to doing something good.

“Any sign of the rumored enhanced?” Sharon asked, realizing Steve hadn’t been as important in this mission as they’d initially thought.

“No, but we didn’t see the worst they had to offer. The guards were all looking back, like they were waiting for something and it didn’t come,” Steve told her, and it left Sharon wondering what exactly the Oasis Resort had been hiding that was worse than what they’d seen.

They returned to Alicia’s ranch and parked the car back in the barn where it wouldn’t be found. They said their farewells quickly and boarded the quinjet to head back to DC. It took another few hours, most of which involved Sharon typing up her report on a tablet so it would be ready to turn in and then taking a brief nap. Once their quinjet was returned and their quick debrief was done, the three of them met in the hall before heading out.

“I just got a text from Clint. He’s in town for some SHIELD business too and wants to come hang out. You two in?” Nat asked, looking way too chipper for someone who had just flown both ways on a trip to Mexico and back and had also been in a gunfight.

“Oh, hell yes, Clint makes me feel like such a normal person, his problems are always so ridiculous,” Sharon immediately agreed. She wondered if Steve would come too or if he just wanted to go home after a mission like that. She thought of him wanting to build the blanket fort, of him wanting to have fun too and hoped he would join them.

“Sure, it’ll be nice to see him when there isn’t some huge disaster happening,” Steve agreed as well. The three of them split off to go home first and change. Sharon still needed to clean multiple coats of glittery makeup off her face in order to feel like she wasn’t Clarissa. When she was dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and tennis shoes, she felt more herself. She offered to give Steve a ride so he wouldn’t have to take his bike and he agreed, the two of them showing up at Nat’s looking to all the world like normal people who hadn’t just had the day they had.

It was about 11 o’clock and Clint was already there when Sharon invited herself inside Nat’s apartment, through the door this time instead of the fire escape, with Steve trailing behind her. Clint was sitting on her couch with a beer in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other which Sharon immediately laughed at. Nat had a few beers in the fridge and a bottle of vodka on the counter with shot glasses at the ready. Sharon had a feeling she wouldn’t be drinking much unless she wanted Steve to know exactly who she was and her entire history in one sitting. Instead, she just grabbed a beer as well and checked out what else Nat had in mind for the night.

“Is this a game?” Steve asked, looking at a bowl full of wadded up papers. Natasha looked playful and Sharon knew exactly where this was going. For once, the guessing game would be invited.

“She wants us to play charades and you walked right into it,” Clint told him bluntly. “She always does this. She just wants to see me pretend to be a moose or something else stupid and then tape it on her phone and send it to Tony so they can laugh at me,” Clint confided.

“Hey, that’s only happened like three times,” Sharon snorted out a laugh as Natasha innocently sifted the wads of paper around in the bowl as if it would entice them.

“Easy for you to say Thirteen, you always get the easy ones and make it look normal,” Clint shot back, alternating sips from his coffee then beer in a way that Sharon figured tasted disgusting.

“You’re just jealous because I won last time. Green really isn’t your color, okay?” Sharon teased and Steve looked like he was entertained enough by this interaction. They all took a seat and Natasha gave them a good look-over.

“Ladies versus gentlemen,” she concluded. Sharon nodded, knowing they’d definitely win, and Clint would either cry or drink three more coffee/beer combos in an hour flat.

“Nope, I’m not playing unless Nat’s on my team,” Clint fussed, and Sharon stuck her tongue out at him. Natasha shrugged.

“Fine, Team Wonder Twins versus Team Blond Body Builders,” Natasha changed it and Sharon glanced at Steve whose brow furrowed at the title they’d been given.

“My muscle tone seems average for this line of work, but I accept this title,” Sharon joked, and Steve just shrugged.

“We get to go first because my fashion sense was judged and that’s rude,” Clint proclaimed which made Sharon snort indignantly and Natasha laugh but no one argued it. Nat pulled a paper from the bowl and stood in front of them to clearly mimic a cat cleaning its face. “Squirrel! Weird bat thing! Lady washing her face! One of those facewash commercials!” Clint called out several wrong answers loudly while Sharon tried not to die laughing at him for not seeing something so clear and still calling himself a spy. The timer on Nat’s phone ran out and she stared daggers into all of them.

“It was a fucking cat,” she said bitterly, plopping down on the couch. She nudged Sharon to go up and Sharon grabbed a paper from the bowl. It said, “grocery shopping” and she took a second to plan her moves. Nat hit start on the timer and Sharon immediately started pretending to push a grocery cart and place items off the shelves into it.

“Throwing a ball,” Steve started off sheepishly, clearly not used to playing. “Or, cleaning house?” he tried again. Sharon started miming pushing the cart again and he registered what she was doing. “Shopping?” he asked. It was good enough for her, she smiled and gave a thumbs up.

“No fair, it said grocery shopping and he only said shopping,” Clint grumped and Nat elbowed him in the ribs and told him to go get another cup of coffee and another beer which only made him grumpier and got another laugh out of Sharon.

They went on for another hour or so playing and watched Clint get drunk and fall asleep on Nat’s couch. After the stress of their day, this had been exactly what they’d all needed. Sharon let Steve drive her car to get them back to the house since she’d had a few drinks and was a little tipsy and Steve looked content when they pulled into the street parking where Sharon usually parked her car at the apartment building. 

“What’s got you smiling?” Sharon asked lightly, feeling comfortable and a little sleepy.

“It’s just nice, to have friends,” Steve admitted. Sharon knew this was something he’d been missing. She knew this was important to him and she could tell in the way it gave him some peace. He’d come a long way from the guy who had come out of the ice and needed her to monitor him. He was doing better and actually talking to her on his own.

“Well, I’m glad to be one of those friends,” Sharon replied, and he gave her a funny look, and she hoped he wasn’t about to try to guilt her into telling him her name again.

“It’s different now, than it was for me before the ice. I don’t know if I would have had a night like this before the ice. But I’m glad to have had it here, now,” Steve opened up to her and Sharon smiled a genuine smile.

“I’m glad you’re here now too. Not that you had to go through everything, the ice and all of it, but I’m a little bit selfishly happy to know you and get to work with you,” Sharon admitted right back, knowing she was revealing too much and getting into more difficult territory but riding along the gentle wave of her few beers and the sense of calm they brought.

“It was great to work with you today. I’m starting to see why Fury placed you as my bodyguard. You don’t just always fight your way out, sometimes you talk your way out too,” he told her, and Sharon felt something well inside her at this compliment. “Keeping that cover, so you could go back and talk to that woman and try to help stop her weapons operation, you got more out of the mission than we would have,” he pushed on and Sharon felt a shy smile rest on her lips. She wasn’t sure how to take this, but it made her feel warm and seen and acknowledged.

“I mean, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that it was great to get to work with you today. Just seeing that shield in action was pretty special,” Sharon laughed, trying to ease the warmth of the moment with a joking tone to bring it back to something familiar. Steve took that as the cue to end the night and the two of them got out of the car and headed up the stairs, parting ways at their apartments and waving a small goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, sorry this feels so late. Life has been very hectic! I hope this chapter feels worth the wait. More to come! Thank you all for reading!


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